The Going Rate For...

One of the things that we, as Peace Corps Volunteers, are required to do on a yearly basis is to complete an annual living allowance survey. This is then used by the country office to determine if our living stipend is enough to live at the local level, and then if it's not they can request an increase from headquarters.

So just this week I compiled my survey, and I thought it might be interesting for you to see a random sampling of what some things cost over here:

226.20 AZN is our monthly living allowance, which equals $269.53 USD. (Can any of you live on that?)

    .50 AZN,     .60 USD  1 liter Coke
    .10 AZN,     .12 USD  1 egg
    .30 AZN,     .36 USD  1 loaf of bread
  5.00 AZN,   5.96 USD  bus ride from Ujar to Baku (about 3.5 hours)
  6.90 AZN,   8.22 USD  1 kilo* cheese
  1.30 AZN,   1.55 USD  450 grams laundry detergent
15.00 AZN, 17.87 USD  1 month DSL internet
  2.00 AZN,   2.38 USD  1 kilo* tomatoes
    .70 AZN,     .83 USD  1 kilo* potatoes
    .20 AZN,     .24 USD  1 bunch of cilantro, dill or green onions
    .50 AZN,     .60 USD   snickers bar
  1.50 AZN,   1.79 USD  4 rolls toilet paper
  1.40 AZN,   1.67 USD  1 liter milk
    .15 AZN,     .18 USD   subway ride in Baku
  1.60 AZN,   1.91 USD  1 liter vegetable oil
  1.00 AZN,   1.20 USD  1 kilo* flour
50.00 AZN, 59.58 USD  1 month rent (definitely one of the cheapest) 

*1 kilo = 2.2 lbs